WATCH LIVE: Brush Fire Jumps California Highway, Sets Cars Ablaze

This is just terrifying to watch.

A brush fire in the San Bernardino mountains spread rapidly within the last hour and jumped the 15 Freeway, setting multiple cars and a big rig ablaze. Local schools have been evacuated, and the scene has become a highway full of abandoned vehicles — some completely burnt out — as helicopters circle the scene and make water occasional water drops.

This is just terrifying to watch.

A brush fire in the San Bernardino mountains spread rapidly within the last hour and jumped the 15 Freeway, setting multiple cars and a big rig ablaze. Local schools have been evacuated, and the scene has become a highway full of abandoned vehicles — some completely burnt out — as helicopters circle the scene and make water occasional water drops.

Most people are believed to have evacuated the scene on their own — only a few injuries have been reported thus far, but officials won’t know the casualties until they get the fire under control.

Via: Mediaite

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$340 Billion in CA Debts

A high-profile new report showed California still faces massive liabilities extending far into the future. The study, released by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office, tallied over $340 billion in debts, deferred payment and other budgetary burdens “that will affect the state’s financial health in the future.”

According to the report, “Addressing California’s Key Liabilities,” there was some good news mixed in with the bad. The LAO was relatively sanguine toward a substantial portion of California’s long-brewing public pensions crisis. The report’s Executive Summary lauded “recent actions taken by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) board … to address the unfunded liability for state employee pension benefits in about 30 years.”

Given the legal controversy surrounding CalPERS’ role in city bankruptcies, however, the LAO’s praise may not go far. Litigation concerning the bankruptcy of Stockton, for instance, has pulled CalPERS back into potential liability. “Even though the city decided not to try to cut its CalPERS payments,” the Sacramento Bee reported, “Judge Christopher Klein said he could rule that the pension fund could be treated like other creditors.”

That’s significant because a ruling along those lines would affect CalPERS statewide. CalPERS is locked in a closely watched mediation process with the city of San Bernardino, which hopes to avoid millions in back payments to CalPERS as a consequence of declaring bankruptcy.

CalPERS, however, isn’t the only pension system at the center of the LAO report. There’s also CalSTRS, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System. There, the LAO fingers “$200 billion in liabilities” that “merit further legislative attention.”

In his revised May budget, Brown has a plan to address the shortfall. It’s already drawing criticism. He aims to make a down payment on CalSTRS’ $74 billion shortfall — followed by $5 billion in increased funds every year for 30 years, once it’s fully phased in after seven years of stepped-up payments. Notably, $3.7 billion a year will be expected to come from school districts themselves — not a popular policy at the local level.

Via: California Political Review

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MOODY'S: MORE CALIF. CITIES AT RISK OF BANKRUPTCY

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- One of the nation's top credit rating agencies said Friday that it expects more municipal bankruptcies and defaults in California, the nation's largest issuer of municipal bonds.

Moody's Investors Service said in a report that the growing fiscal distress in many California cities was putting bondholders at risk.

The service announced that it will undertake a wide-ranging review of municipal finances in the nation's most populous state because of what it sees as a growing threat of insolvency.

The report has both investors and government leaders worried.

Three California cities - Stockton, San Bernardino and Mammoth Lakes - have filed for bankruptcy so far this year. They are not likely to be the last, Moody's said.

Moody's reports that some cities are turning bankruptcy as a new strategy to take on budget deficits and avoid obligations to bondholders, an emerging dynamic that could have ripple effects throughout the investment community.

The municipal bond market has long been characterized by low default rates and relatively stable finances, Moody's said, but that outlook is beginning to change as bankruptcy becomes a tool for cash-strapped cities.

As a result, the agency will reassess the financial position of all cities in California, which issues about 20 percent of the municipal bond volume nationwide, "to reflect the new fiscal realities and the governmental practices."

Via: Associated Press

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